‘Smells fishy’: Analyst stunned by House GOP’s reluctance to swear in new representative
A professor of international politics was stunned during an interview on Thursday because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has still not sworn in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona after more than a month after her election.
Grijalva, a Democrat, won a special election to replace her late father last month. She has pledged to support a discharge petition to force a discussion about releasing the Epstein files, which some experts have suggested is the main reason Grijalva has not been sworn in.
Scott Lucas, who teaches international politics at the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin, discussed Grijalva's situation in a new interview for "The Trump Effect" podcast.
"They're just trying to avoid the reckoning," Lucas said. "The fact here is I don't think you're going to shift Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and that handful of Republicans."
"It just smells fishy," he added. "It smells fishy that they will not even allow a discussion on this."
Lucas added that the situation with Prince Andrew in the UK adds an interesting wrinkle in the case.
"I honestly think that Johnson and the Trump camp just think it'll go away, and the reason why I think Trump may think that is...he's gotten away with it for so long, [he] can get away with it again," Lucas said.
‘That firewall is crumbling’: Ex-GOP lawmaker slams Trump ally for defending antisemite
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) took time on CNN Thursday evening to tear into Kevin Roberts, president of the far-right Heritage Foundation, for his refusal to condemn ex-Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for interviewing white nationalist Hitler sympathizer and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
Roberts' claim that Fuentes and Carlson shouldn't be deplatformed has sparked a firestorm of anger and divided staffers within Heritage itself, fracturing the organization responsible for crafting President Donald Trump's Project 2025 agenda. It wasn't until after days of controversy that he finally backtracked.
"Congressman, what — I don't understand why it's a difficult question at all," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "Shouldn't — I think all Republicans would condemn Nick Fuentes' hateful comments, full stop."
"Yeah, you'd think. But remember, Donald Trump invited him ... to Mar-a-Lago to have lunch with him and Kanye," said Kinzinger. "This is crazy. I mean, look, this is — there's always been, you know, we'd have Lincoln Day dinners, right? This is like the big fundraisers for the GOP. And there'd always be a weird table. And the weird table would always have 1 or 2 people that were kind of like Nazi-ish, I guess. And that firewall, for the most part, in the GOP, held where it's like, yeah, they may be considered to the right, but they're not part of us."
Now, however, he said, "It feels like that firewall is crumbling and you hear sometimes people on the right say, we have no enemies to the right. And what they're saying is anybody that is on the right, even as far as Nazism — we have no enemies, we have to make common cause. The ultimate enemy is the left and the liberals. And so the fact that it has taken Kevin, that Heritage Foundation president or chairman, whatever, as long as it has to condemn that is enough to say like that firewall is crumbling now."
"I'll give Ted Cruz something here for speaking out as quickly as they did on this. Some of them," added Kinzinger. "But this — this has to be burned right out of the party. And unfortunately, it's taking too long to do that."
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‘That guy doesn’t care’: MSNBC host calls out Trump’s indifference after executive faints
President Donald Trump gathered pharmaceutical giants to the Oval Office on Thursday to discuss weight loss drugs when Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay collapsed. Trump stood from the desk, looming over the situation as Dr. Mehmet Oz rushed to the man. Trump was then photographed turning away from the scene, looking disappointed.
"Trump stands unmoved, annoyed looking, as staff rushes to revive the man," said MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Thursday night. "And you can look at this photo of Trump. It's reasonable to think that guy doesn't care about getting my costs down. Not really. People seem to forget this. We all have very short memories these days. He was president before. He was the least popular president for the duration of his first term in modern polling. He is even less popular now after seeing his approval plummet all year."
Host Jen Psaki added her comments, asking, "Did he understand what was happening?"
Psaki and Hayes weren't the only ones to notice Trump's indifference.
"This is how he reacted," said Democratic activist Harry Sisson. "A photo that perfectly encapsulates who he is."
"At the same time, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. immediately left the office, and Trump seems like posing for the camera. Cowardice, lack of empathy and fear is the trademark of this administration," Commented inHereticAI creator Mario Pawlowski.
"Someone faints in the oval office and Trump could give two s---s," said Morgan J. Freeman on X.
"Trump springs into action as a man collapses in the Oval Office," former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) says sarcastically.
"Donald Trump reacts to a man in medical distress in the Oval Office," characterized columnist Matthew Yglesias.
"A man suffers a medical emergency in the Oval Office and Trump just stands there, staring blankly, like someone shut off the robot in the Disney Hall of Presidents," quipped novelist Patrick S. Tomlinson.
Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt (I) recalled a 2017 report in Harper's Bazaar about an 80-year-old man who collapsed in Trump's presence and began bleeding. "Get that blood cleaned up, it's disgusting," Trump said, according to the report.
Legendary comedian and creative genius John Cleese described the photo saying, "Trump seething because he's not the centre of attention for a moment.
Findlay was ultimately okay.
Ted Cruz’s inadvertent admission on Fox News brutally mocked by observers
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was brutally mocked by political analysts and observers after he made an inadvertent admission during an interview on Fox News.
Cruz joined Fox News host Sean Hannity for an interview on Monday, where the two discussed the potential impact of the upcoming midterm elections. Cruz pointed out that Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) want to pass policies that could stifle entrepreneurial growth in America. However, Cruz may have told too much of the truth in making that point, according to some analysts.
"By the way, AOC also said it is impossible for someone to earn a billion dollars," Cruz said. "Which, look, I recognize for her, given she was a bartender, that is probably true. No disrespect to bartenders. Bartenders are an honorable profession. But she went from that to being a government employee and a parasite sucking on the taxpayer."
Some political analysts and observers called out Cruz for the notable phrase he included in his answer.
"Ted Cruz just called himself a parasite sucking on the taxpayer," Hemant Mehta, a former "Jeopardy!" champion, posted on X.
"Love him calling himself a parasite," comedian Sam Weber posted on X.
"Ted Cruz seems to have forgotten what he is, and what he was," John F. Clark, professor emeritus of media studies at the University of Kentucky, posted on X. "He’s never done anything but go to school, do some lawyering, and then go to work for the government. We need more bartenders and fewer lawyers in Congress."
Red state candidate vows to turn ICE centers into prisons for ‘American Zionists’
A controversial Democratic candidate in Texas has proclaimed she would use Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers for a new purpose — to round up "American Zionists."
According to the San Antonio Current, Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist running for Texas' newly-redrawn 35th Congressional District consisting of eastern San Antonio and the exurbs around it, posted to Instagram that she will "turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking." She added that "it will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
In her Instagram post, which spanned several pages and ranted against "billionaire Zionists that control San Antonio," she also accused her Democratic primary opponent, Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Johnny Garcia, of "want[ing] Mexicans and Jews in warehouses." She has previously claimed, with no evidence, that Garcia is part of a human trafficking operation on behalf of Zionists.
Galindo has repeatedly faced accusations of being antisemitic, which she denies, claiming that she supports "the Indigenous Jews (The Semites) of the Middle East" over "the Fake Jews" committing genocide against them.
All of this comes as mainstream Democratic figures in Texas and around the country line up behind Garcia's candidacy.
It also comes as a mysterious PAC with ties to the GOP has worked behind the scenes to boost Galindo to voters in the 35th District, which has been made significantly more Republican-leaning as a result of Texas lawmakers' MAGA-ordered mid-decade redistricting.
What to expect when you’re expecting a budget
DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 41
SPENDING SPECIFICS: Crucial state budget details — including aid for New York City, the structure of a surcharge on high-value second homes and the contours of major pension changes — are yet to be fully ironed out.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a "general agreement" for a $268 billion spending plan — but without specifics on many items. The closed-door discussions remain underway in Albany and none of the nine remaining budget bills have been printed.
The state budget is now destined to be at least six weeks past its March 31 due date. Yet Hochul is counting on voters to appreciate her policy wins and not focus on what has been an at-times messy process.
Hammering out these final specifics won't make or break a final deal. But the fine print will matter for how much New York plans for its massive tax-and-spend plan — impacting some 19 million people.
Here's what's to still expect when you're expecting a budget.
New York City aid: More help for the Big Apple is on the way from Albany. Lawmakers and Hochul are discussing additional foundation aid, potentially changing the formula for how public education spending is determined, and more cash for homeless students. At the same time, enabling legislation for pension amortization is being considered.
Those measures are designed to help New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani close what's left of a $5.4 billion budget gap. And they come on top of the additional $1.5 billion Hochul agreed to earlier this year.
The governor told reporters Monday morning her office has been working well with the Mamdani administration to fix the city's budget woes.
"There's quite a bit that needs to be OK'd by New York state," she said. "I spent last night talking to the mayor, Friday night talking to the mayor. It's been a great level of cooperation."
Pied-à-terre structure: Lawmakers are yet to see any detailed budget language for Hochul's proposed surcharge on non-primary second residences worth $5 million and above. How that surcharge is structured — including how much it will rely on a home's assessed value — will matter for how many residences are actually captured by the tax.
Overhauling Tier 6: Overhauling the Tier 6 pension category is a potentially costly endeavor. Hochul and lawmakers are now considering what's being called a "skinny" version of a plan originally pushed by unions, according to two people familiar with the talks.
The change would lower the retirement age for teachers to 58 after 30 years of service, but it would not alter how much they contribute from their paychecks. For the rest of the public workforce, contributions of no lower than 3 percent of a worker's take-home pay is under consideration, but no change would be made to their retirement age.
The move is expected to cost $500 million combined for the state, local governments and school districts. That's far less than the $1.5 billion proposal advanced earlier this year by the New York State AFL-CIO.
Buffer zones: As POLITICO Pro reported earlier, lawmakers and Hochul have weighed a 50-foot protest buffer zone that would allow local officials to expand it as they see fit. Having those zones around houses of worship is largely agreed to, but working through the specifics remains a sticking point. — Nick Reisman
From the Capitol
HANTAVIRUS IN NEW YORK: Three New Yorkers were aboard a cruise ship at the center of an international hantavirus outbreak, state Health Commissioner James McDonald said in a statement this afternoon. The three passengers were sent to the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, where they are expected to be subject to a 42-day monitoring period, according to McDonald.
"While the Department is working in close coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments to gather information, at this point it is unclear how long they will stay in Nebraska and whether, or when those individuals intend to return to New York,” McDonald said.
“At this point, it is important to emphasize that there is no immediate risk to the public. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as needed," he added.
When asked about the threat of the virus to New Yorkers, Hochul said the state health agency is working with the CDC, and she is monitoring the federal government to make sure officials have the capacity to handle any potential outbreak.
“I want to make sure that the CDC is capable of handling something that could be larger than they are predicting, and I say that because I know that over a year ago, there were significant cuts to the CDC,” Hochul said. “We have outstanding resources here in the state of New York…so I’ve activated them to start preparing New York for worst-case scenarios and hope they do not come.”
She noted that the state is putting together a plan to address any spread of the virus, but she does not believe it will turn into another coronavirus pandemic. She said she will begin doing briefings if it spreads beyond the three individuals flown in from the ship. — Katelyn Cordero
GOV’S SOCIAL ACCOUNT GETS PLAUDITS: The state government’s eyebrow-raising, joke-telling, irreverent social media accounts were honored with a Webby Awards “Honoree” award last week, Hochul’s office told Playbook.
The accounts, which go under the handle @NYGov on Instagram and X, are separate from the “Governor Hochul Press Office” account, which drew the ire of Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy last week when it mocked him for his age.
@NYGov, also known as “State of New York” on X, most recently posted messages like “it’s hole filling season” to spread the word about the state’s pothole reporting hotline on X, or "UNALIVE THOSE FLYS" as an Instagram PSA on the invasive spotted lantern fly.
“I’ve always believed that government is for the people, and in order to reach people, we need to communicate like them,” said Milly Czerwinski, a digital content strategist who works in Hochul’s comms shop and runs the account. “NYGov’s oddity and authenticity has broken down the traditional bureaucratic barriers to reach millions of people. Being weird works — this award is proof of that.” — Jason Beeferman
FROM CITY HALL
CCR-CHI COMPLAINT: City Councilmember Chi Ossé filed a misconduct complaint today against an NYPD officer who arrested him, advancing a case that stands to drive a further wedge between the police department and Mayor Mamdani.
The complaint, which Ossé shared with POLITICO, alleges the officer used excessive force during the April 22 arrest in Brooklyn, where the Council member and others were protesting the planned eviction of a woman who claims she’s the victim of deed theft.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates and prosecutes cases of police misconduct, has received Ossé’s claim and is reviewing it, a spokesperson confirmed.
Ossé, a democratic socialist and ally of Mamdani, told POLITICO he believes the arresting officer violated his civil rights. “My rights were violated, but more importantly, my responsibility to my community and constituents demands a fact-finding,” said Ossé, who claims he suffered a concussion from being slammed to the ground.
The NYPD previously said Ossé and three other protesters were only arrested after refusing verbal commands to stop blocking access to the property where the eviction was set to be executed.
A spokesperson for Mamdani — who called video of Ossé’s arrest "incredibly concerning” last month — said in response to the Council member’s complaint that "the mayor respects the independence of the CCRB and will allow the disciplinary process to play out based on the evidence, established procedures, and the NYPD’s disciplinary matrix."
Mamdani, a longtime NYPD critic, faces a fraught situation in responding to Ossé’s complaint.
If he doesn’t back up his fellow democratic socialist, Mamdani is likely to anger his allies on the left. On the flipside, if he condemns the arresting officer, he risks drawing the ire of NYPD leaders, including Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as well as the department’s rank-and-file cops.
Read more about the CCRB and Ossé from Chris Sommerfeldt in POLITICO.
CASE CLOSED: Council member Vickie Paladino has reached a settlement with the City Council to resolve disciplinary charges focused on her controversial social media posts.
The takeaway? The Council has withdrawn its disciplinary charges, and Paladino is dropping her lawsuit challenging the proceedings.
The agreement, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, effectively dismisses the charges and cancels an ethics hearing that could have led to censure, fines or expulsion. As part of the settlement, Paladino must delete three posts cited in the case. She must also remove “Council Woman” from her personal X account display name within 48 hours of court approval to communicate to the public a clearer separation between her official posts, which are subject to some of the Council’s rules and regulations, and her personal opinions, one member familiar with the parameters of the settlement told Playbook.
The case stemmed from a string of inflammatory posts starting in December where, in a deleted post, she called for the “expulsion of Muslims from western nations,” prompting the committee to look into her conduct.
In February, she posted that New York was under “foreign occupation” following Mamdani’s appointment of a top immigration official. Paladino questioned whether the administration included “one single actual American” and later described a photo of Muslim sanitation workers praying as part of an “Islamic conquest.”
The Council’s Rules and Ethics Committee had charged Paladino with disorderly conduct and violations of its anti-harassment and discrimination policy in March.
Paladino sued to block the proceedings, arguing she was being targeted for her conservative views and that the discipline violated her First Amendment rights.
As part of the settlement, Paladino must issue a statement saying she did not intend to make colleagues or staff feel “unwelcomed or unsafe.” Council member Sandra Ung, who chairs the ethics committee, issued her own statement Monday afternoon saying the resolution “strikes the balance” between protecting staff and lawmakers’ free speech rights.
Both sides agreed to issue limited public statements and refrain from further comment. — Gelila Negesse
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
EYES ON AI: Rep. Pat Ryan is backing state Assemblymember Alex Bores to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, making him the latest member of the New York delegation to weigh in on one of the state’s most competitive primary elections.
In making his endorsement, the Hudson Valley Democrat cited the high-profile AI fight that’s become a central theme of the race as a key reason for backing Bores.
“He’s going to be the next member of Congress for the New York 12th District,” Ryan said at an event in Midtown with Bores today. “If you have any doubt, you don’t have to take my word for it — follow the money. Look at the incredible unprecedented amount … It’s because these tech billionaires are terrified, they’re terrified of Alex specifically.”
The millions of dollars in spending by a pro-artificial intelligence super PAC against Bores — an alum-turned-critic of data analytics company Palantir and a sponsor of the AI safety RAISE Act in the state Legislature — has also drawn an influx of money from regulation-friendly AI and tech-affiliated groups to boost him.
Bores’ campaign said that both he and Ryan “share a belief that the next Congress must take decisive action to regulate artificial intelligence before this transformative technology outpaces the rules meant to govern it” — a debate that continues to rage on in Washington and globally.
Bores is viewed as one of the top contenders for the 12th District, which covers a large swath of Manhattan. He’s up against Assemblymember Micah Lasher, Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg and anti-Trump commentator George Conway, as well as a handful of lesser-known challengers. Public polling has been sparse in the race, and internal polls from earlier this year don’t show a clear front-runner. — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
— CLOCK’S TICKING: Mamdani has less than a month to fill two longstanding vacancies on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board — and the appointments could be key for his mission to make the city’s buses “fast and free.” (THE CITY)
— NECK AND NECK: Hochul made a joint campaign appearance with Rep. Dan Goldman who’s running for reelection in New York's 10th congressional district, with a primary challenge from Mamdani-backed Brad Lander. (Gothamist)
— SARCONE DOGGED: The top prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of New York is accused of misconduct, according to the watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability. (POLITICO Pro)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
